Chapter Five-Despair

"Now boys. We have to do this by the rules. The group home is set up by age. Jonathan, you and Christien will be in the same group. Andrew will be in a group,and the baby will be kept in the nursery group." Mrs. Atamire explained.

Jonathan and Chris held on to their younger brothers' hands firmly. "We won't leave our brothers with you." Jonathan declared bodly. "We promised Espa we'd take care of Andy and Little E."

"Your brother Espa is no longer in charge. You four belong to the state now, and that is that." Atamire turned to her two assistants. "Take them."

"NO!" Andrew clung to Christien very tightly. "No go wif them,Chris!"

"I...I'm afraid you've got to." Christien replied,prying Andy off of his neck,and handing him over to the first young woman.

"It'll be okay. You'll be well taken care of,Little One." The assistant told Andy,as she walked off with him. Chris looked over at Jonathan,who gave him an encouraging smile.

"What?" The middle brother asked him.

"We're allowed to visit them every day." Jon replied. "At least until they're adopted."

"Adopted?! We can't get adopted. We're not orphans!" Chris told him,upset.

"Come on, you two. I'll show you to your room." The remaining volunteer said softly. There was a look of sympathy on her face that hadn't been Atamire's or the other girl's.

"We're not really available for adoption, are we?" Christien asked.

"I'm afraid so. Should your brother choose to fight the system, you will remain in foster care until the situation is resolved. If you're with a family at the time,they will become your foster family."

"Well,Espa will definitely fight it! And he's got Seto Kaiba on his side!" Jon proclaimed. "We won't be here long enough to get adopted."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Jonathan...." Christien whispered suddenly. "People are always adopting babies and little kids. So while we might not, there's a good chance Little E or Andrew might."

"We can't let it happen!" Jon whispered back. "We can't let Espa down!"

"Here we are. I'm Sarah,and I'm in charge of this sector of the home. If you have any more questions,don't hesitate to ask me." The girl opened the door,and the boys were released into a roomful of children.

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Espa looked around the house he and his brothers had shared for years. He had stopped crying only two hours after they'd carried Andrew out to the car,just as his vision had predicted. The house was a mess from Andrew playing with his baby brother as they waited for Atamire to get there that morning. As with his vision, Espa had pleaded for them to change their minds,but it was to no avail. He had begged Jon and Chris to keep Little E and Andrew with them,but he couldn't have known how things worked at the home.

Now he sighed deeply,and called Joey. He didn't want to be alone at the moment,nor did he want to leave the house. He knew Wheeler,if anyone, would understand that.

"Hello?"

"Joey.....Hey." Espa greeted dully.

"Hey,Espa. Are they....gone?" The Brooklyn boy chose his words carefully.

"Yeah...They left hours ago. Joey,can you come over?" Espa knew he probably sounded like a child,but he really just needed to be with friends right now.

"I'll have to bring Lacey and Monica. Rex and Meghan are gone for the day,and I offered to babysit. Serenity's with Tea."

"That's okay. I need kids in the house."

"Okay. Give me an hour, alright?"

"Sounds good. I'm still trying to get through to Kaiba. I keep getting his answering service."

"Man, he must be really busy with whatever he's doing."

Espa chuckled slightly. "That's Kaiba for you. Oh! Hold on,I have a call coming in."

"See ya in an hour." Joey replied,hanging up as Espa clicked over.

"Hello?"

"This is Kaiba."

"Oh...Thank God. We've got a problem." Espa spent the next half hour explaining what had been going on since the CEO and his younger brother had left town.

"Did they give real reasons?" Kaiba demanded.

"They said I couldn't handle school and work plus take care of four children."

"Nonsense! Those boys are well taken care of, and they're loved. You make plenty of money. How can they legally say you're unfit?!" Kaiba replied,exasperated.

"I...I don't know, Seto. I just don't. " Espa sighed.

"Hang in there. We're going to be home in a couple of days. I'll handle this."

"Thanks, Seto." Espa replied softly.

"Don't mention it." Kaiba replied. "Now I have to tell Mokuba."

"Yeah....I'll talk to you later." Espa hung up, and began to pick up the house in a mechanical manner.